December 19, 2003

Farzaneh Milani, interim director of Studies in Women and Gender at the University of Virginia, could not help but be struck by the power of the veil, having come from a country -- Iran -- where veils have long been invested with deep religious, political, and social significance. In 1936, the law forbidding women to wear veils reflected Iran's desire to gain acceptance as a modern nation, while the reveiling of women in 1983 following the Iranian Revolution marked a return to what were seen as traditional Islamic values. Veils -- and the status of the women inextricably associated with them -- are a litmus test in Iranian culture >>> See

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